The last great generation of NFL running backs and the next great generation get to pass each other in the night, after all. It was all but universally accepted that the previous generation — epitomized by Adrian Peterson, now in Washington for likely his career curtain call — really was the last. But the new generation is showing that the death of the position in the NFL was greatly exaggerated.
However, the problems that threatened to kill the position once the Peterson era ended have been passed on to the beasts of the new era. All of them, from Le’Veon Bell to Todd Gurley to Ezekiel Elliott to Saquon Barkley, either know the consequences by personal experience or are on track to get a dose of it themselves soon enough.
So it’s fitting that Peterson gets a farewell tour after all signs had pointed to him fading away this season with teams showing no interest in signing him. By week’s end, he’ll surely be tired of being reminded that he’s 33, has far exceeded his position's average by entering his 12th season, managed 529 yards at 3.4 yards a carry in 10 games for two teams that each eventually found no need for him … and is now reportedly playing for just over $1 million.
Peterson's Vikings contract once was the gold standard for running backs; his 2015 restructuring called for him to make a guaranteed $13 million that year and $11 million the next year. Of course, that was around the same time the market bubble was bursting. Peterson scuffled around to find a team that wanted him last year as much as he did this year.
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The adage that no one should commit big money to a running back, or commit anything at all to a running back who’s 30, was already taken as gospel. The casualties were all over the league … and still are, as DeMarco Murray found out this offseason after the Titans released him and he retired to go into the broadcast booth at 30. He signed his big free-agent deal with the Eagles, for $21 million guaranteed, just three years ago.
That was in the middle of what was supposed to be the shift away from, essentially, having one big workhorse back at all. It’s now shifting back, but only to a point. Teams only won by passing ... until they didn't. A strong running game was not necessary ... until it was.
A team was better off spending a high draft pick on a receiver or a lineman than on a back ... until the Zekes, Le’Veons, Gurleys, David Johnsons, Alvin Kamaras and Leonard Fournettes made themselves indispensable.
Respectively, the Cowboys, Steelers, Rams, Cardinals, Saints and Jaguars owe whatever playoff or Super Bowl dreams they have to their young star power in the backfield, as much as or more than to their quarterback play.
And none of those backs will ever get a long-term contract anywhere in the same neighborhood as their quarterbacks.
Even this season, with Bell playing on the franchise tag of $14.5 million, Ben Roethlisberger makes $17 million — and Roethlisberger is playing on an extension from 2015 worth $31 million guaranteed.
Wanting and needing a super-talented, versatile back to anchor the offense is one thing. Banking on one is, and always will be, another.
Bell is 26. He and the Steelers have never been on the same page regarding his contract. Speculation centers not on if he leaves in free agency next year, but on where he'll land.
In his absence last season, Johnson proved how much he carries the Cardinals. That value should be rewarded accordingly, but it will only be rewarded according to his position ... and according to the fact that he did get injured. Plus, odds are he’ll hit the wall on this side of 30 rather than the other, as Peterson did.
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Gurley is 24, and the Rams unleashing him under coach Sean McVay established the RB's worth. The deal Gurley signed last month sounded lofty, at nearly $22 million guaranteed. Except he, like Bell has in past years, had wondered why not only running backs but NFL players period had to settle for what they do. ("I just want, like, $80 million," he said, comparing his lot to NBA players making twice as much.)
Earlier this month, after signing his extension, Gurley talked about how easily all but the closest and most knowledgeable observers can overlook backs who do what he does: "It’s all good," he said. “They undervalue us, but we're out there doing our job, catching the ball, blocking and receiving. So we try to do it all."
A few backs in their 30s (or on the cusp) are stubbornly holding on and, in some cases, excelling. Marshawn Lynch, LeSean McCoy and LeGarrette Blount are still going strong. Frank Gore, 35, is a level above Peterson on the freak scale at this point.
They're also either relative or complete bargains for their teams. Blount, now in Detroit, is playing on a one-year deal for the third straight year, and for his third straight team — despite playing for champions in the previous two.
Meanwhile, Jamaal Charles was one of the runners who auditioned for Washington around the time Peterson did. At 31, he’s still out of work.
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Elliott is a year away from serious contract talk time. Kamara is entering just his second season (after making Peterson expendable for the Saints in his first). The same for Fournette and the Chiefs’ Kareem Hunt, the latter being reigning league rushing champ.
The cream of the quarterback crop, in every era, triggers a geyser of money when their time comes.
With running backs, the last real gusher went to Peterson. He’s still here. The paydays for those running in his footsteps dried up a while ago, and they don’t look like they're coming back.
